Symptoms of Whooping Cough

List of symptoms of Whooping Cough:

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Whooping Cough includes the 47 symptoms listed below:

• Phase 1: Cold-like symptoms:
  • Cold-like symptoms
  • Cough
  • Mild fever - or no fever at all in early stages
  • Running nose
  • Sore throat
  • Mild dry cough
  • Sneezing
  • Tears
  • Tiredness
  • Loss of appetite
  • Night cough
• Phase 2: Coughing spasms: - this is the dangerous phase of the disease.
  • Coughing spasms - followed by the "whoop" breath intake.
  • Rapid breath intake - the characteristic "whoop" noise
  • Dry racking cough - in cases where the cough is not severe enough to "whoop".
  • Breathing difficulties - all of these are serious, and are very dangerous for babies.
    • Holding breath (infant) - in newborns with undeveloped cough reflex. Instead of coughing babies may appear to hold their breath. They may exhale too much and not inhale enough. Babies may turn blue instead of coughing.
    • Non-breathing periods (apnea) - breathing stops for a period of coughing.
    • Blue or purple (cyanosis) - an inadequate supply of oxygen to the body. Newborns might go blue without coughing.
    • Convulsions - not enough oxygen to the brain can cause convulsions.
    • Choking - the flem from the throat infection can interfere with breathing.
  • Feeding difficulties - The cough also leaves little time to eat or drink. The act of feeding for an infant can also trigger a coughing fit, making it hard to feed an infant.
  • Vomiting
  • Retching
  • Nosebleeds
  • Diarrhea
  • Fever
• Phase 3: Gradual recovery:
  • Mild cough
  • Whoop-like cough may recur due to other respiratory infections
• Rhinorrhea
• Lacrimation
• Conjunctival hyperemia
• Fever
• Cyanosis
• Cough
• Whooping sound when coughing
• Malaise
• Nasal discharge
• Sneezing
• Tearing of eyes
• Low-grade fever
• Persistent cough
• Coughing up thick mucus
• Vomiting
• High white blood cell count

Note that Whooping Cough symptoms usually refers to various symptoms known to a patient, but the phrase Whooping Cough signs may refer to those signs only noticable by a doctor.

More ways to research these symptoms: To research other symptoms use the symptom center, or to research causes of more than one symptom in combination, try our multi-symptom search.

Research More About Whooping Cough

Do I have Whooping Cough?

• Whooping Cough: Introduction
• Whooping Cough: Diagnostic Testing to confirm diagnosis
• Home Diagnostic Testing
• Alternative diagnoses and misdiagnosis for Whooping Cough
• Failure to Diagnose Whooping Cough
• How serious is it?
• Treatments for Whooping Cough
• More about Whooping Cough

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical tests related to Whooping Cough:

• Home Lung Function Tests
• Cold & Flu: Home Testing:
  • Home Fever Tests
  • Home Ear Infection Tests
  • Home Flu Tests

Wrongly Diagnosed with Whooping Cough?

The list of other diseases or medical conditions that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses for Whooping Cough includes:

• Cold
• Flu
• Bronchitis
• Sinus infection
• Reactive airway disease

See the full list of 22 alternative diagnoses for Whooping Cough

More about symptoms of Whooping Cough:

More information about symptoms of Whooping Cough and related conditions:

• Other diseases with similar symptoms and common misdiagnoses
• Tests to determine if these are the symptoms of Whooping Cough
• Symptoms that may be caused by complications of Whooping Cough
• Associated conditions for Whooping Cough
• Risk factors for Whooping Cough

Other Possible Causes of these Symptoms

Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions, or drug side effect causes of that symptom.

• Blue or purple (cyanosis) - see all causes of Cyanosis
• Breathing difficulties - see all causes of Breathing difficulties
• Choking - see all causes of Choking
• Cold-like symptoms - see all causes of Cold-like symptoms
• Convulsions - see all causes of Convulsions
• Cough - see all causes of Cough
• Cough - see all causes of Cough
• Coughing spasms - see all causes of Coughing spasms
• Coughing up thick mucus - see all causes of Cough
• Cyanosis - see all causes of Cyanosis
• Diarrhea - see all causes of Diarrhea
• Dry racking cough - see all causes of Dry cough
• Feeding difficulties - see all causes of Poor feeding
• Fever - see all causes of Fever
• Fever - see all causes of Fever
• Holding breath (infant) - see all causes of Breath-holding
• Lacrimation - see all causes of Lacrimation
• Loss of appetite - see all causes of Poor appetite
• Low-grade fever - see all causes of Fever
• Malaise - see all causes of Malaise
• Mild cough - see all causes of Mild cough
• Mild dry cough - see all causes of Dry cough
• Mild fever - see all causes of Mild fever
• Night cough - see all causes of Night cough
• Non-breathing periods (apnea) - see all causes of Apnea
• Nosebleeds - see all causes of Nosebleeds
• Persistent cough - see all causes of Persistent cough
• Rapid breath intake - see all causes of Breathing symptoms
• Retching - see all causes of Retching
• Rhinorrhea - see all causes of Runny nose
• Running nose - see all causes of Runny nose
• Sneezing - see all causes of Sneezing
• Sneezing - see all causes of Sneezing
• Sore throat - see all causes of Sore throat
• Tears - see all causes of Tear symptoms
• Tiredness - see all causes of Tiredness
• Vomiting - see all causes of Vomiting
• Vomiting - see all causes of Vomiting
• Whoop-like cough may recur due to other respiratory infections - see all causes of Coughing spasms

Medical Books Online about Whooping Cough

Medical Books Excerpts Excerpts of published medical book chapters related to Whooping Cough are available from published medical books for more detailed information about Whooping Cough.

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Related videos for Whooping Cough

Patient Surveys for Whooping Cough

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about the symptoms of your Whooping Cough
  Take Survey  View Results

Symptoms of Whooping Cough: Online Medical Books

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about the symptoms of Whooping Cough.

Whooping cough: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

After an incubation period of about 7 to 10 days, B. pertussis enters the tracheobronchial mucosa, where it produces progressively tenacious mucus. Whooping cough follows a classic 6-week course that includes three stages, each of which lasts about 2 weeks.

First, the catarrhal stage characteristically produces an irritating hacking, nocturnal cough, anorexia, sneezing, listlessness, infected conjunctiva and, occasionally, a low-grade fever. This stage is highly communicable.

After a period of 7 to 14 days, the paroxysmal stage produces spasmodic and recurrent coughing that may expel tenacious mucus. Each cough characteristically ends in a loud, crowing inspiratory whoop; excessive coughing; and choking on mucus, causing vomiting. (Patients with persistent cough should be evaluated for whooping cough, because not every patient will develop paroxysms or the distinctive whooping sound.) Paroxysmal coughing may induce such complications as nosebleed, increased venous pressure, periorbital edema, conjunctival hemorrhage, hemorrhage of the anterior chamber of the eye, detached retina (and blindness), rectal prolapse, inguinal or umbilical hernia, seizures, atelectasis, and pneumonitis. In infants, choking spells may cause apnea, anoxia, and disturbed acid-base balance. During this stage, patients are highly vulnerable to fatal secondary bacterial or viral infections. Suspect such secondary infection (usually otitis media or pneumonia) in any whooping cough patient with a fever during this stage, because whooping cough itself seldom causes fever.

During the convalescent stage, paroxysmal coughing and vomiting gradually subside. However, for months afterward, even a mild upper respiratory tract infection may trigger paroxysmal coughing. (Paroxysmal coughing may not be present in partially immunized individuals.)

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Acute respiratory failure in COPD: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

In patients who have COPD with ARF, increased ventilation-perfusion mismatch and reduced alveolar ventilation decrease PaO₂ (hypoxemia) and increase Paco₂ (hypercapnia). This rise in carbon dioxide (CO₂) lowers the pH. The resulting hypoxemia and acidemia affect all body organs, especially the CNS and the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

Specific symptoms vary with the underlying cause of ARF but may include these systems:

❑ Respiratory — Rate may be increased, decreased, or normal depending on the cause; respirations may be shallow, deep, or alternate between the two; and air hunger may occur. Cyanosis may or may not be present, depending on the hemoglobin (Hb) level and arterial oxygenation. Auscultation of the chest may reveal crackles, rhonchi, wheezing, or diminished breath sounds.

❑ CNS — When hypoxemia and hypercapnia occur, the patient may show evidence of restlessness, confusion, loss of concentration, irritability, tremulousness, diminished tendon reflexes, and papilledema; he may slip into a coma.

❑ Cardiovascular — Tachycardia, with increased cardiac output and mildly elevated blood pressure secondary to adrenal release of catecholamine, occurs early in response to low PaO₂. With myocardial hypoxia, arrhythmias may develop. Pulmonary hypertension, secondary to pulmonary capillary vasoconstriction, may cause increased pressures on the right side of the heart, elevated jugular veins, an enlarged liver, and peripheral edema. Stresses on the heart may precipitate cardiac failure.

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Infant respiratory distress syndrome: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Although a neonate with IRDS may breathe normally at first, he usually develops rapid, shallow respirations within minutes or hours of birth, with intercostal, subcostal, or sternal retractions, nasal flaring, and audible expiratory grunting. This grunting is a natural compensatory mechanism designed to produce positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and prevent further alveolar collapse.

Severe disease is marked by apnea, bradycardia, and cyanosis (from hypoxemia, left-to-right shunting through the foramen ovale, or right-to-left intrapulmonary shunting through atelectatic regions of the lung). Other clinical features include pallor, frothy sputum, and low body temperature as a result of an immature nervous system and the absence of subcutaneous fat.

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Acute respiratory distress syndrome: Signs and Symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Rapid, shallow breathing; dyspnea, crackles, rhonchi; hypoxemia; bilateral infiltrates on chest X-ray  

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Acute respiratory failure: Signs and Symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Shallow or deep respirations (or both), air hunger, cyanosis, adventitious breath sounds, confusion, decreased level of consciousness, tachycardia, pulmonary hypertension, irritability, decreased reflexes

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Respiratory alkalosis: Signs and Symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Deep, rapid breathing; dizziness; agitation; circumoral and peripheral paresthesia; carpopedal spasms; twitching; muscle weakness; seizures; arrhythmias

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Respiratory syncytial virus infection: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Clinical features of RSV infection vary in severity from mild, coldlike symptoms to bronchiolitis or bronchopneumonia and, in a few patients, severe, life-threatening lower respiratory tract infections. Symptoms usually include coughing, wheezing, malaise, pharyngitis, dyspnea, and inflamed mucous membranes in the nose and throat. Reinfection is common, producing milder symptoms than the primary infection.

Otitis media is a common complication of RSV in infants. RSV has also been identified in patients with a variety of central nervous system disorders, such as meningitis and myelitis.

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Severe acute respiratory syndrome: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

The incubation period for SARS is typically 3 to 5 days but may last as long as 14 days. Initial signs and symptoms include fever, shortness of breath and other minor respiratory symptoms, general discomfort, headache, rigors, chills, myalgia, sore throat, and dry cough. Some individuals may develop diarrhea or a rash. Later complications include respiratory failure, liver failure, heart failure, myelodysplastic syndromes, and death.

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Respiratory acidosis: Signs and Symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Confusion, apprehension, asterixis, coma, headache, dyspnea, tachypnea, papilledema, depressed reflexes, tachycardia, hypertension or hypotension, arrhythmias, vasodilation

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Acute respiratory failure in COPD: Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)

In COPD patients with ARF, increased ventilation-perfusion mismatching and reduced alveolar ventilation decrease Pao₂ (hypoxemia) and increase Paco₂ (hypercapnia). This rise in carbon dioxide tension lowers the pH. The resulting hypoxemia and acidemia affect all body organs, especially the central nervous, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems. Specific symptoms vary with the underlying cause of ARF but can include any of the following: